Chapter 18: The Final Truth

Zoe

The lake house is dark when we return. The tulips have wilted. The petals are brown, curled, and scattered across the soil like fallen soldiers. I kneel and touch one. It crumbles to dust. Liam is on the porch, and the journal opens on his lap. He has been reading for hours, his face pale, his jaw tight.

"Liam." He looks up. His eyes are red. My father," he says. "He knew about yours. He knew about the affair. He knew about the conspiracy."And he did nothing?"

"He was gathering evidence. He was planning to go to the authorities. But your father found out." He closes the journal. "He killed him before he could talk." The words land like stones dropped into still water. Ripples.

"Zoe." Liam stands. "I need to tell you something. Something I have been keeping from you." I walk toward him. My legs are shaking. "The night your father was arrested," he says. "The man in the mask. The one who broke into the office."

"What about him?"He was working for your father. Your real father. Edward." My blood turns to ice. "How do you know?"Because Marcus tracked the gun. The serial number led to a dealer who works for Edward's network." He takes my hands. "Your father was trying to kill us, Zoe. He was trying to destroy the evidence before it could be used against him."

I pull away. My chest is tight. My throat is closed. "Why are you telling me this?" "Because you deserve the truth. Because I will not keep secrets from you. Not anymore." The wind blows. The wilted tulips scatter.

"Where is he now?" I ask. "Who?"

"My father. Edward. Where is he?"

Liam hesitates. "He is in custody. But his trial is in two weeks. And his lawyers are good."He could walk free." "Yes."

I stare at the lake. The water is black, still, a mirror reflecting nothing. "Then we make sure he does not." The prison is grey, cold, the walls made of concrete and regret.

I sit in a small room, a glass window between me and my father. He is wearing an orange jumpsuit, his hands cuffed to the table. His grey hair is thinning. His face is pale. "Zoe." His voice is thin, tired. "I did not think you would come."

"I almost did not." "Why did you?" Because I need to hear it from you. The truth." He stares at me. His grey eyes are the same as mine. "I killed David Cole," he says. "I ordered the hit on Victor Kane. I built the network that Evelyn ran." He pauses. "I am the monster you have been hunting."

The words land like stones. But I do not flinch. "Why?" "Because power is the only thing that matters. Because I wanted to protect my family. Because I made mistakes, and I could not stop."

"You could have stopped. You chose not to." "Yes." I stood up. My hands are shaking. "You are not my father," I say. "You are a stranger who shares my blood." "Zoe—"

"Goodbye, Edward." I walk out. I do not look back. Liam is waiting in the car. He opens the door for me. I slide inside. "How did it go?" he asks. "He confessed. But it does not matter."

"It matters to me." I lean my head on his shoulder. The rain begins to fall, streaking the windows like tears. "What do we do now?" I ask. "Now we live. We fight. We survive."

"And the generals?" He kisses my forehead. "One by one. We take them down." The car pulls away from the prison. The city blurs past.

Tick-tock. The clock is ticking. But for the first time, I am not afraid.bI have the truth. I have him. And the future is ours.